I heard a few years back, I think it was in a golf digest article about how to hit it 300 yards. The guy started with a swing speed of 100mph and someone told him "You probably max out at around 260". I think for that guy at that time, that was about right. There seems to be some common wisdom about needing a 120mph swing speed to hit it 300 yards. Maybe they are referencing carry there, not sure what the disconnect is... I've seen numbers on several launch monitors that were really good with a swing speed that would be considered low. e.g. 104mph, 288 carry, 306 total. At first I thought it was just a crappy launch monitor, but some really good monitors out there seem to all concur that you can hit it over 300 with a swing speed in the 102-104 range. Who's right? The launch monitors or random golf mavens?

Post some data if you have some or just give honest anecdotal evidence that you can hit it over 300 without swinging 110+

I've had monitors tell me my driver swing speed is between 104 and 112 mph, depending on the monitor and the day and how much I go after it. I've had the same experience, where those monitors tell me I'm carrying it ~280s and rolling out past 300 on all the straight ones. I think that's a little bit inflated, but not much. On flat fairways that aren't overly hard I tend to get carry+roll in the 280s on my solid, straight drives on standard SoCal warm, dryish days, but my best couple drives each round will end up past 300 even without excessive roll or downhills or anything. Note of course that my true mean isn't over 280, since I don't hit every drive solid and straight!

But the point remains that you definitely don't need swing speed over 120mph to get carry+roll of 300 yards. I'd guess that that's 300 yards of carry. I'd believe that, since I know for sure I've never carried a drive anywhere near 300 yards and that my swing speed is significantly below 120mph. Maybe you need swing speed of ~110mph with center contact and good smash factor to get carry+roll of 300 yards on a flat fairway of average hardness and roll when it's not too cold or wet?

http://www.iseekgolf.com/clubfittingandrepairs/7313-angle-of-attack-its-role-in-fitting givers you a carry of 274 at 105mph with a perfect strike (good luck with that) which matches what I have seen elsewhere. 25 yards of roll isn't unreasonable on a lot of course while on some others ones the your roll out will be more like 10 yards. You could also tweak your swing for more roll less carry and squeak out a few more yards on certain courses. So in theory yeah you can hit 300 with a 105mph club speed. Reality is that if you getting much above 270 on a regular basis you are doing good. Personally I think they set all the launch monitors to 5k ft so everyone hits the ball just a bit farther. I am also convinced that all of the practice putting greens slope to the hole at my local store.

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Originally Posted by bunkerputt

I heard a few years back, I think it was in a golf digest article about how to hit it 300 yards. The guy started with a swing speed of 100mph and someone told him "You probably max out at around 260". I think for that guy at that time, that was about right. There seems to be some common wisdom about needing a 120mph swing speed to hit it 300 yards. Maybe they are referencing carry there, not sure what the disconnect is... I've seen numbers on several launch monitors that were really good with a swing speed that would be considered low. e.g. 104mph, 288 carry, 306 total. At first I thought it was just a crappy launch monitor, but some really good monitors out there seem to all concur that you can hit it over 300 with a swing speed in the 102-104 range. Who's right? The launch monitors or random golf mavens?

Post some data if you have some or just give honest anecdotal evidence that you can hit it over 300 without swinging 110+

The chart is about right (at least for distances) for maximum carry. For maximum distance (ie. carry plus roll) you tend to use a slightly lower loft driver. I wouldn't be shocked to learn that in TX you hit your driver about 160 yards carry and get 30+ yards of roll. Teebox elevation can also be good for a half dozen yards.

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Originally Posted by tstrike34

Question...

I am wondering about my driver distance. I have 11.5*... dunno my swing speed (probably 75) ... currently I am ranging in at about 189 - 195.. Is that accurate?

The chart is about right (at least for distances) for maximum carry. For maximum distance (ie. carry plus roll) you tend to use a slightly lower loft driver. I wouldn't be shocked to learn that in TX you hit your driver about 160 yards carry and get 30+ yards of roll. Teebox elevation can also be good for a half dozen yards.

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Ouch.... man I just got a driver for Xmas... Looks like I need to either speed up my club head speed or get a high loft club!! *Ouch*

All the info and charts above seem reasonable to me. My info from testing drivers the other day (typical SoCal winter day, sixty degrees, no wind): 106-107 club head speed, 160 ball speed, -4 attack, 9 launch, 2200-2800 spin ... And the best shot I recorded was 268 carry and roll out to 280-something.

It's all about impact. I have a highish swing speed {115-117) but i make terrible contact, smash factor only around 1.35... Also, most of the fairways near me give zero roll. A lot of times my ball will be a few feet behind the plug mark where it landed.